Mark Lawson Antiques Identifies Rare Eggshell Tea Service

Highly Desirable Porcelain Catapults Bidding Activity on Sothebys.com Web Site

Mark Lawson, proprietor of Mark Lawson Antiques in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., recently identified a rare eggshell tea service dating to the turn of the century. At auction, this delicate porcelain brought $42,200 against an initial estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. The tea service, an 18-piece Rozenburg set with a floral Art Nouveau design, dates to circa 1900. This type of artist-decorated porcelain is considered the finest Dutch expression of the Art Nouveau movement. The lot included the teapot, sugar with flame finial lid, creamer, tray and six cups and saucers.

Offered through a Sothebys.com special online auction, the tea service was accessible as a “Special Auction” at the Sotheby’s homepage. The auction was a presentation of fine antiques and decorative arts drawn from a diverse group of estates and collectors, reflecting the wealth of the late 19th- and early 20th-century industrialization of New York’s Capital Region, as well as the popularity of Saratoga Springs as high society’s mecca for the last 150 years.

An exhibition of all the items, including the tea service, was held at Mark Lawson Antiques in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. This auction was, and future auctions are, open to anyone with access to a computer and a valid credit card. The site includes directions on how to register.

Mark Lawson Antiques is a well-established dealer specializing in many areas of antiques and collecting, including fine and decorative art pieces, exceptional antique and vintage jewelry, superb antique porcelain and silver objects, Oriental and Persian rugs, and more. The firm, specializing in the appraisal and liquidation of estates in the greater Capital Region of New York state and western New England, is headquartered and operates a gallery in historic, beautiful Saratoga Springs, N.Y. It is one of a small international network of regional dealer affiliates of Sotheby Auction House of New York’s online venue, Sothebys.com.